The team’s lease on Tropicana Field runs through 2028. They hope a new stadium will be built before the start of the ’29 season. That doesn’t leave much time to work out financing agreements with the city and county before construction begins. The team’s deal on Tuesday was with the college to target a potential stadium site. They haven’t worked out any kind of public financing deals.
The Rays had an agreement in 2024 for a stadium to be located in St. Petersburg, located in Pinellas County. The deal collapsed after hurricane damage held up the county’s approval of certain bonds, prompting the Rays to claim they needed more money to cover cost overruns caused by the delay. Talks between the team and city/county officials became so acrimonious that the Rays began working with officials from Hillsborough County and the city of Tampa.
The inability to reach a stadium deal was apparently the driving force behind Stu Sternberg’s decision to sell his majority stake in the franchise last year. Patrick Zalupski is now in charge of ownership and is once again trying to work out a deal within Tampa itself. City and county officials have sent mixed signals about whether they will approve public money.
Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan, a proponent of a deal in Tampa, suggested this afternoon that he believes the team would pursue opportunities in Orlando if they don’t make enough progress on Dale Mabry’s site (link via Nicolas Villamil of The Tampa Bay Times). There is growing support for a team in Orlando, either through relocation or expansion, but MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and Rays officials have maintained they are currently focused on the Tampa area.
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